A Punk and a Mexican have a Fight.

Brewdog Punk IPA and my homemade chilli con carne

For my first food pairing my little knowledge of beer and food matching suggests that IPA and chilli would be a good one, although I was a little concerned about the sweet tomato sauce.

The Food
This particular homemade chilli has rather spicy chilli kick with a smokey hit from the paprika and a sweetness of carrot and tomato in the sauce (too sweet really if I was being critical about the food).

The Beer
The Punk IPA is an old friend. An initial smack of hoppy pine and citrus and a long lingering bitter finish that drags you back for more.

The Match
First round to the Mexican as a lot of the initial hop hit of the IPA is lost in the strong flavour of the chilli and tomato sweetness. Then the punk fights back and the long bitter aftertaste outlasts and finally wipes away the sweetness and when that eventually fades the warm tingle of chilli is left on the palate, tempered but unbowed by the beer. Quite a rollercoaster and not an unpleasant one.

In sumary this is definitely a pairing I would recommend the chilli is definitely enhanced by the Punk IPA but I do miss that big initial hop hit that I would get from drinking the beer without food.

I feel that the punk's hardcore big brother may be an even better match. I also look forward to trying the new recipe Punk with a less sweet chilli next time.

Final note to self...take a picture next time.